Gender Education

ELEMENTS OF RESEARCH XEF 500PROFESSOR: DR. O. DENIS EKWERIKE

CHEYNEY UNIVERSITYDEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION & PROFESSIONAL SERVICESGRADUATE DIVISION of EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION & FOUNDATIONS

JO DAN FLOYD, MARCUS FULTON, TERESA HOPSON, ARTHUR JOHNSON, TIA LONG, ANTIONETTE POWELL 

What Is the Impact of Gender-Based Education On Public School Achievement?

Table of ContentsChapter I : Introduction

Chapter II : Literature Review

Chapter III : Methodology

Chapter IV: Results

Chapter V: Discussions  

Introduction

Methodogy

Type of Design: Comparison Study

Variables:

•Independent: Gender

•Dependent: Student

Achievement

PopulationUrban male and female students within the Philadelphia Region

• Age 8-14

• Attend Public School

• Included 60 students: 25 boys, 35 girls

Instrumentation•10-item survey, “Gender Preference Survey” using the Likert Scale

•Questions included:Gender preferenceParticipationCompetitionAchievementTeacher RapportOver Educational ExperienceDemographic Information: gender; grade level

Reliability & ValidityValidity: Evidence provided support for the relations to other variables of validity.

Reliability: Questions were repeated to show consistency and stability of answers

Procedure•Individual in-person surveys•Lasting 20-25 minutes•Monitored by homeroom teacher•Teachers administered the surveys and returned within two days•Anonymity was ensured

Data Analysis•Organized into four categories

GirlsBoysCombinedOverall rating

•Reviewed and critiqued to identify commonalities•Based on the data

Inferred that girls do better than boys

Literature Review

Literature ReviewInclusion Criteria:

• Twenty-Year Period from 1988-2008

• Research cited from public school data

findings.

Literature ReviewTopics Covered:

• Cognitive Ability: Genetic or Social

Conditioning?

• Coeducational Disparity

• Disadvantages of Same-Sex Schooling

• Benefits of Same-Sex Schooling

• Summary 

Literature ReviewGenetic or Social Conditioning?

• Boys and girls are 'hard-wired' at birth (Kimura,

2004)

• Social Conditioning (Elder & Paul, 2007; Tindall

& Hamil, 2004)

Literature ReviewCoeducational Disparity• Girls get less attention (McCloskey, 1994)• Girls may get sexually-harassed (McCloskey, 1994)• Girls self-esteem wanes during adolescent years (Brown- Nagin, 2000)• Girls better at language arts (Worrell, 2005; Kimura, 2002)• However, most students at the bottom of class are boys (Pollack, 1999)• More boys are held back, suspended, misdiagnosed (Halpern, 2000; Weil, 2008)

Literature ReviewDisadvantages for Same-Sex Schooling• Students in same-sex environment may become homosexual (Salomone, 2003; Sather, 2007)• Gender stereotypes may be reinforced (Elder & Paul, 2007)• Civil rights violation (Strauss, 2006)

Literature Review

Benefits of Same-Sex Schools• Students see same-sex teacher role models (Riordan, 2000)• Students feel less embarrassment, less peer pressure (Salomone, 2003)• Students (both genders)have higher career goals

(Riorda as cited in Brown-Nagin, 2000)• Girls can participate in male-dominated sports (Russell-Baca, 2007)• Boys can participate in arts or 'girly' classes (Russell-Baca, 2007)• Girls can participate in math or science (masculine) classes

(Lippa, 2002)• Classes of both genders have less discipline problems (Lippa, 2002)

Literature Review

Summary

•Gender-specific environments have a positive impact on academic achievement

(Barton & Cohen, 1994; Lippa, 2002; Salomone, 2003; Tindall & Hamil, 2004; Weil, 2008)

•“Girls and boys are similar and different....Differences are not deficiencies” (Halpern, 2000, p. 73)

Results

ResultsPercentage of boys and girls who

participatedThe information provided in this pie chart shows out of a total

of 60 students 42% were boys and 58% were girls.Percentage of boys & girls who took the

survey

1 2

Girls 58 % Boys 42%

Grades

1 2

8TH Grade 3rd grade

42%58%

Figure 1-2 Grade of student participantsFigure 1-1

Overall level of Achievement due to preference

There was a big difference in the preferences of the students in 3rd grade compared to those in the 8th grade. Overall the third grade students agreed that a gendered- based education would help them to improve academically. On the other hand the 8th graders did not seem very interested in gendered-based education. The findings show that either way they feel that they would achievement at their individual potential.

Results

Interpretation of Research

Interpretation of ResearchA. Benefits outweighs negatives

1. Academically beneficial 2. Less behavioral

problems3. Self-esteem improves

B. As it relates to our surveys1. Children want to be in mixed

classes 2. Socialization is a big deal3. Children not aware of their

academic future at these ages

Interpretation of Research

C. Limitations1. Not enough time

2. Not enough students

D. Generalizability1. Can be performed with any school,

any grade

Interpretation of Research

E. Recommendations•Consider Girls High, and Southwest Boys as agents of change•More research on topic•More surveys available on topic

F. Conclusion1. Try It, it may actually work!!

Interpretation of Research